Whole Roasted Greek Chicken and Potatoes

If you’ve never roasted a whole chicken before, it can be a bit intimidating but really, it’s one of the easiest and most delicious weeknight meals to throw together and feed a hungry family!

I absolutely love Greek food, especially Greek potatoes. The earthy oregano along with the bright lemon flavor makes the most amazing combination in my opinion. Here is my way of getting those greek potatoes on the table along with a whole roasted chicken… all in one skillet!

I prefer to ‘spatchcock’, or remove the backbone, of my chicken when roasting it for multiple reasons. It cooks more evenly, it cooks more quickly, and it gets crisper across the whole top which is absolutely delicious! Removing the backbone from a chicken sounds daunting but let me assure you it’s like the easiest thing ever, so long as you own a pair of good poultry shears. Simply cut along each side of the backbone, flip it over and press down on the breasts to lay it flat/make it butterflied open and you’ve done the job! It’s just that simple and you’ll have the most fantastic roasted chicken!

Lay the potatoes and yellow onion on a large cast iron skillet or sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano. Top mixture with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and toss to coat evenly.

Next, Spatchcock the chicken by using kitchen shears to remove the backbone. Rinse chicken (inside and out) and pat dry.

Place the chicken cavity side up over the potato and onion mixture.

In a bowl, combine 1 tablespoon dried oregano and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and brush the back of chicken with 1/4 of the mixture. Season lightly with kosher salt and pepper.

Flip the chicken over and brush remaining oil mixture on top of chicken and drizzle with 2 tablespoons more of lemon juice. Season the top generously with kosher salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, remove from oven, toss the potatoes and place back into the oven and continue to roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 155 to 160 degrees.

Remove the chicken from the oven and cover the skillet tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cut the chicken into quarters, sprinkle with kosher salt and serve hot with pan juices and potatoes.